‘Trump is in severe mental decline’: Concerns raised over president’s health

‘He’s in full-blown meltdown; it’s like the episodes of Chernobyl,’ says sacked communications director

Donald Trump is “in severe mental decline” and “won’t make it” to the next election, a former top aide has claimed.

Anthony Scaramucci, who was White House communications director for just 11 days before he was sacked in 2017, said the US president’s behaviour has “got worse” since he last saw him a year ago.

In an interview with CTV News on Friday, he said: “He’s in full-blown meltdown; it’s like the episodes of Chernobyl where the reactor’s melting down and people are trying to figure out whether they’re going to cover it up or clean it up.”

Mr Scaramucci said he believed the president’s chances of re-election were “diminishing every day” – but admitted there was “still a chance there”.

He added: “I predict he won’t make it to that election; there’s such severe mental decline going on that the most likely outcome here, and I think the proudest outcome, would be to say ‘OK I did a great job, and I’m going to retire at the end of the term’.”

Speaking at Toronto Global Forum on Friday, he repeated his claim that Mr Trump is in “severe mental decline”, adding: “I’m not saying that now because I’m a political adversary or I disavowed him, I’m saying that objectively just looking at what’s going on.”

The former aide’s comments came after the president was taken to task for a tweet he posted last weekend claiming that Alabama would be hit by Hurricane Dorian.

Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci speaking about Donald Trump to CTV News, 6 September 2019. (CTV News)

He later faced criticism after posing in the Oval Office with a National Hurricane Centre map of Storm Dorian which appeared to have been altered to include Alabama in the storm’s path.

Mr Trump hit back, tweeting: “This nonsense has never happened to another president.

“Four days of corrupt reporting, still without an apology.”

However the National Weather Service in Birmingham, Alabama, tweeted: “Alabama will not see any impacts from Dorian. We repeat, no impacts from Hurricane Dorian will be felt across Alabama.”

Sources told Business Insider that the president’s advisers were particularly concerned about his refusal to acknowledge his claim was false.

“People are used to the president saying things that aren’t true, but this Alabama stuff is another story,” they said.

"No one knows what to expect from him anymore," one former White House official told Business Insider, speaking anonymously.

"His mood changes from one minute to the next based on some headline or tweet, and the next thing you know his entire schedule gets tossed out the window because he's losing his s***,” they added.

A Republican strategist told the website: “He’s deteriorating in plain sight.”